Agenda - 12-04-2000-8m - Laserfiche WebLink

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MEMORANDUM TO: John Link, County Manager FROM: Gayle Wilson, Solid Waste Director SUBJECT: "Buy Recycled" Conference, February/March 2001 DATE: November 30, 2000 Orange County has had an informal "buy recycled" policy for years. The Tawn of Chapel Hill and UNC Chapel Hill have had formal ones in place for several years. Buying products made from recycled materials stimulates manufacturers to create more of these goods, thus strengthening the market for recyclables. The three arrows in the universal recycling logo represent recycling collection, manufacturing of new goods with items collected, and then purchase/reuse of these new goads. Recirculation or integration of new goods 'into the market is where the most work in the field of recycling is currently needed. We are doing better at getting our resources to the manufacturers and they are being supplied with enough material to create products, but not enough citizens are buying those products. In order to foster the development of a formal County policy that would encourage or mandate that purchasing agents in the County purchase items made of recycled products, Orange County Solid Waste Management Department requested a State grant that would permit: • networking with.local entities already skilled in buying recycled • bringing in an expert up-to-date speaker to share current strategies and methods with local purchasers • vendors to share information about the latest competitively priced goods manufactured from recycled products No opportunity for this type of intense, focused networking has presented itself in Orange County for a number of years. The proposed date for the "buy recycled" conference is February 19, 2001. Alternative dates are February 12, March 2, or March 3, 2001, at the Friday Center in Chapel Hill. Richard Keller, the foremost national expert on buying recycled is the proposed keynote speaker. Two breakout sessions and a vendors' fair are also scheduled. The event is proposed, to last from 8:30 a.m. unti14:30 p.m. Orange County has been granted $4,500 from the DENR to support this conference and the Solid Waste Management Department has budgeted $500 in matching funds. See attachment 1, timeline and workplan, for details on the "Buy Recycled" Conference. The conference objectives are: • to familiarize all area purchasing agents and others with significant purchasing responsibilities with the wide variety of products available made with recycled materials.